Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:59:44 +0100 From: Gary Cutter Subject: ROYAL NAVY CAPERS - The Prequel WARNING: This story is homoerotic in content. This means that it may and probably will involve male on male sex of various ages. Also note that my characters do not wear condoms and that is because they are FICTIONAL. ALL MY CHARACTERS, PLACES AND SITUATIONS ARE FICTIONAL AND THE EVENTS PORTRAYED TAKE PLACE ON PLANET CUTTER. ANY RESEMBLENCE TO REAL PEOPLE, PLACES, ETC. ETC. IS TOTALLY COINCIDENTAL. The author recommends 'safe' sex in real life. You must be above the Age of Consent in your particular geopolitical area to read this sort of stuff and you should NEVER allow minors access but you knew that. I normally prefer to write in First Person (frowned on by the more technical authors) but I write as I like. I do like to try and approach the tale from the boys point of view... get into their tiny minds but you must realise if they sound a bit smartarse and over world weary at times that is me coming through. If they sound as thick as a plank... that's them. All my stories (and parts thereof) are given SOLELY to Nifty for distribution. If you wish to use anything of mine please ask me, it's only common courtesy Enjoy. If you have spare please donate a little cash to NIFTY. Keep NIFTY free and keep NIFTY alive. GCutter66@gmail.com This one is dedicated to Alan who wrote me recently regarding the old Navy... he know who he is. THE PREQUEL by G. Cutter I have to do an introduction or try and explain this shorty purely to keep a reasonable timeline going with my ROYAL NAVY CAPERS Series. In most of them I appear as the older character, a Leading Signalman and suave man about town with scores of adoring groupies lusting after my body. Need I remind you the stories are fiction and smutty fiction at that, I believe the Puritans we have in full flow at the moment call them pornography. So be it, here's a bit more porn but unfortunately at the end rather than in it's place in the the series which should have been right at the front. Here's a bit of history to get you started or turned off... whatever. My other stories tend to concentrate on me in my twenties, serving in the Signals Department and tied up in some way with Keith, my Keithy (a real person by the way) but there was a time before that, whooo... spooky, uh? I joined the navy and that's our Royal Navy aged sixteen as a Junior Seaman. At the time and this was 1953 the grade was relatively new insofar it plugged the enlistment gap between Boy Seaman aged 15 and Ordinary Seaman who signed on at 18+. From what we were told (as Juniors), Boy Seamen all came from Dr Bernardos, the Children's Orphanages or from Borstal or Juvenile Detention system. How true this was I never did find out but we accepted it as gospel. If we thought we were hard done to as Juniors the Boys had it a damn sight harder. They were a navy within the Navy, their own messdecks, their own routines and hours of working. They had their own supervision who were on the bigger ships the PTIs, the Physical Training Instructors never a very pleasant type I found and roughly akin to to the regulators (our very own shipborne Police Force). I joined up in October of 1953 and went straight to Victoria Barracks in Portsmouth and joined a class of around twenty similarly bewildered oiks and off we went. The first two weeks were solid parade training and this is marching and counter marching around a bloody great parade ground with a rifle on your shoulder and this was all in the name of the Naval God, discipline. We were being brainwashed into a state of mind that told you to jump when told to jump. Just that nothing else. We learned to polish boots, press our clothing and keep ourselves clean. Don't forget this was the early fifties and the war was a recent memory. Most if not all our group came from what we now call working class backgrounds and some of us had rarely seen a bath let alone a shower. We had elitism drilled into us, first of all it was our Class (as in Camperdown 194 or whatever it was), then our Branch (Seamen... rah, rah) and eventually our Ship. Looking back it was all indoctrination and it worked. After this concentrated two weeks we went to the Training Squadron which was anchored in Weighmouth Bay. HMS Implacable and Indefatigable, old Pacific Fleet Carriers with history. Indefat and Implac as they were called and the trainees on both ships were fiercely competitive. I think this went on for around ten or twelve weeks and we were mustered into our Home Barracks and dispersed to our ships. I was Chatham based (which is now gone) and with the others from my class was drafted to HMS Centaur, a Light Fleet Carrier based in Portsmouth. The crew was split between Portsmouth and Chatham ratings which was fun, the townies versus the yokels. Anyway enough history let's get on with it. I found Naval life total shit, at least as a Junior, all we seemed to do was wash things and paint others. If we weren't humping foodstuffs on board it was ammunition and if it wasn't that it was trying to cleanout some grotty compartment that hadn't been touched since they built the damn thing. The one big consolation was that we had bunk beds and a cafeteria messing system, those two things alone made life a damn sight easier. Hammocks may be fondly remembered by many but give me a good bunk bed any time.. Of course being Juniors and being Seamen we got lent out to various other Departments as messengers, basically dogsbodies and all in the name of 'learning'. It ad to beat scrubbing the Cable Deck with icy salt water pumped directly from the sea. The Cable Deck is a carrier's equivalent of a normal ship's fo'c's'le, where the anchor cables and capstans are located for the landlubbers. Unlike on a normal ship where this space is open to the elements on a carrier it's a gloomy cavern about three decks down under the flight deck forrard and only illuminated by cutouts in the hull. I hated it, I hated my time working with Petty Officer Russell (may the fat prick rot in hell). Isn't it amazing how you can hate someone for over half a century? My release came early, after three months we were operating down in the Mediterranean doing God knows what and I got assigned to the Communications Department as a MSO Messenger. This believe it or not was a plum job. You had to wear posh all the time but the disadvantage of bing in your second best uniform whilst everyone else was in their working kit was that you saw some of the action, you weren't buried deep inside the ship. MSO messengers ran around the ship taking messages or signals to various officers and Departments and I loved it. I got to see places on the ship I would never sea as a basic dogsbody. The MSO was perched right up in the island and you got to see the aircraft take off and land and also saw what the Americans would call 'officer country'. I loved it, I fell in love with the Signals Department and furthermore I met Brian. Brian Stanley (whose surname I've changed slightly) was a Boy Seaman and probably one of the older ones. maybe sixteen and a half or thereabouts. He was my opposite number as MSO Messenger and we operated as a team in our scurrying about duties. He was a a blond as I was but much better built, I was a skinny and lanky youth whereas he was an Adonis, I fell madly in love at first sight. In fact, my main problem was trying not to stare at him like a love lorn loon. He really was good looking and he had a sun bronzed body to die for. He had an inch long very white scar by his right eye which I thought very dashing (silly cow), I was just amazed he wasn't knee deep in suitors and that no one else seemed to realise how tasty he was. I'd already been accosted (what a word) by two younger sailors with definite designs on my body, how the Hell did he survive in a messdeck full of randy hormone driven juveniles? We didn't talk a lot in our duties even when 'goofing' which meant watching the aircraft taking off or landing. Being high in the ship's island the MSO deck and flagdeck were ideally suited for this pastime. We did things together dutywise other than carrying messages, we scrubbed out the office, we washed paintwork, we did all thing things we would have done down below on the fo'c's'le but up with the Signalmen we were in the fresh air and sunlight. We were workmates not buddies, I suppose I was quite shy and he may have been the same. There had to be a freeze sooner or later and it was caused by paint (or maybe it was emulsion). We rolled up for work one morning and were detailed to paint out a small flag store just around the back of the office, this place was small and dirty and we were given paint and brushes and told to 'paint the lot'. We were both wearing the dress of the day for working which consisted of blue shorts and sandals, a light blue shirt was optional or was the bare torso optional? Anyway, we set to with some enthusiasm and soon paint was flying everywhere and to get technical it must have been what we now call emulsion as it washed off, I remember that very well. The song goes: 'It started with a kiss...' It didn't, it started with a flick, maybe a mistake, maybe not. He was reaching past me to paint something and I was dreamily ogling his smooth arm when his brush deposited a dollop of first class naval 'magnolia' on my ear and side of my head. I immediately retaliated by jabbing a brush at his nipple and scoring. That was it, all hell was let loose and a paint fight ensued. Luckily we calmed down before any supervision rolled up, we were covered in paint although luckily the compartment looked pretty good (in an amateurish sort of way). Anyway, we were talking, it had taken a long time but it had happened. Now what has gone before has been totally factual... from here on in we delve into the realms of fantasy. The end of it was that we both got sent away with a flea in our ear to get cleaned up, have our midday meal and return for the afternoon in our whites to do our messengering bit. I drew a few looks in my mess as I grabbed my towel and soap but no one commented. I'd fallen into a sort of limbo, working for the Signals Dept. as a Seaman, I was out of their control so they just ignored me apart from a few pals. In the bathroom I was surprised to see my companion in paint, the delicious Brian. 'Hi, Stan,' I greeted him and don't forget abbreviated surrnames were the norm at that time. 'What you doing here?' 'Our bathroom is closed for the time being,' he replied totally unconcerned that he was standing there naked washing a pair of socks or whatever in his handbasin. I took up position to have a quick and totally unnecessary shave which enabled me to ogle him in the mirror. Have I said he was beautiful, of course I have. I had a prime view of his sunburned back, his solidly muscled bottom and eventually when he turned to go in to the showers, his swinging man sized penis. Circumcised boys were a bit of a rarity then although more common now but he was also bigger than most his age, he topped me and I always considered myself 'well rigged' as they used to say. He caught me watching him in the mirror and grinned. I blushed but he walked by calmly stroking my bum which nearly gave me a heart attack. 'Still got some paint on your bum,' he giggled and disappeared. I spent five minutes looking for it before I realised I couldn't possibly be marked, I didn't paint naked for God's sake. Score one for him. I saw him in the showers and I just had to face away, he was all soapy and he seemed to make a big deal out of soaping his penis and balls, I couldn't look, I was popping one and that was a no-no both then and now. To cut a long story short, the ship was recalled to the UK earlier than expected due to mechanical problems and a necessary docking. I stayed on as MSO Messenger as I'd applied to transfer to the Signals Department but Brian Stanley returned to his deck duties. I still saw him around and about and we now knew each other well enough to exchange greetings if not to stop and talk. I was a bit like a lovelorn girl, everytime I saw him my heart gave a little leap and I came over embarassed. He knew, he knew alright and I'm sure he delighted in the situation but we were in my mind at least like Romeo and Juliet . I was stuck up in Signals world and he was down in the depths of the ship in Seaman's world. Of course, I had picked up another 'friend' along the way with whom I shared some sweaty moments. Hello, Ordinary Seaman Reeves. We docked in Portsmouth and went through the routine of screaming girlies on the quayside etc etc. I can never understand why people get so emotional after barely a year. Jeez, we hadn't been to war or anything. In fact we had gone to Trieste at the back end of '54 to sort out something but I didn't know what was going on then and I'm not inclined to find out now. We'd lost the suadrons who'd flown off as we came up the Channel so signal traffic decreased but I had now been adopted by the Signals Department and was just awaiting a draft to go for retraining. I'd was still a Junior Seaman but eighteen wasn't a thousand miles away and then I'd be an Ordinary Seaman or better still an Ordinary Signalman. As the grade implies we still weren't truly classedd as adults and our shore leave reflected this. The 'adult' types got all night leave but Juniors had to be back at eleven and to be honest I didn't know what the routine was with the Boys which made what happened one Saturday all the more fortuitous, a matter of serendipity striking. I had weekend leave but with my home circumstances and the constant lack of money I had no desire to go home and rarely did. However, I liked to get away from the ship now and then and take in a picture or just mooch around. I did have mates, don't get me wrong but I was a bit of a loner and most of my pals liked to drink like fish, not one of my hobbies. On this particular Saturday I decided to start my adventures at the Fleet Club(?)... yeah, that was a joke. What I meant is that I could get myself a decent meal there which was reasonably cheap and then go out and find an afternoon film and get back safely for the dreaded twenty three hundred. Dull, but, hey... it was late '54 not the Swinging Sixties. I was sitting eating and basically more interested in the food than what was going on around me when someone sat opposite me. As the place was nearly empy I glanced over to see who had disturbed my peace and quiet to see Brian spreading a dinner complete with something and custard and wearing a big grin. 'Long time no see, Tommy boy.' As I've said before, cut down surnames were the norm and as a Mick Thomas, Tom, Tommo or Tommy was mine. 'Hi, Stan.' I was immediately into embrassment mode, I think I flushed or blushed. In one heat wrenching jolt I was back in love. Raw physical love and I'd just begun to forget him. 'You lot don't get night leave, do you? Juniors that is.' 'No, twenty three hundred.' 'Same here,' he looked across at me and smirked. I've got to use that word because it was a funny smile, not his normal open grin. 'I've got a cabin,' his voice dropped. 'What for?' I asked. I knew that the building had cabins upstairs which could be rented by the night for sailors who had overnight leave. Let's face it, if you'd had a good night on the booze you were probably safer sleeping it off ashore than risking returning to your ship drunk. There was always the chance of getting arrested on the gangway and slung in cells. 'What do you think?' Stan looked at me with a knowing smile. 'Nice showers, clean bed and a good zonk in peace and quiet.' 'Mmmm... not a bad idea,' I conceded. I had been on duty until midnight and was feeling a little frayed around the edges. In fact, the idea seemed a good one. You could always have a good snooze, pick up a movie around six thirty and still have time to get back in time. The problem was I had my money carefully rationed out, what I had in my pocket was just about enough for the meal and film. ''Yeah,' Stan seemed almost enthusiastic. 'Towel and soap is only one and six, cabin half a crown and you're set.' 'I'm just about skint.' 'You must be able to afford soap and a towel,' Stan urged almost seeming to be trying to convert me to his idea of Saturday fun. Shower and sleep... fun? 'You never know who you're going to bump into up there,' he added which made no sense at all. His next statement aroused some interest all the same. 'You could pile in my cabin, we could share,' his voice had dropped. 'Nice and private.' That did it. I looked at him and his eyes dropped. He was chatting me up, there was no other explanation. Everything he'd said made sense, he was looking for a sex buddy, a wank buddy, call it what you will and I'd drifted across his line of fire. Suddenly the movies seemed less interesting, at least I'd have some spare money if I didn't go. There was one other factor... I felt his leg brush against mine under the table and then a very definite pressure. 'Isn't it a bit dodgy, sharing cabins. Don't they get the hump?' 'Not if you don't tell them,' he stared at me and a half smile appeared on his face. I'd just returned the pressure on my leg. I think I'd got to the point of no return. I was suddenly convinced, his leg slowly moved up and down against mine, it was the old schooly trick. The first contact is accidental, the second not so and the third and anything past that was a proposition. This time the leg against leg was mutual. 'I might take up your offer, Brian,' I chanced his given name instead of his nickname. 'You will, Tom-Tom,' he grinned confidently. 'Mick.' 'Pleased to meetcha, Mick,' he grinned and tucked into his sweet. 'I always fancied you after that painting episode,' he spoke down at the table. 'Ditto,' I gave his leg another push and felt it returned. He looked up with a grin. 'It's ten times safer if you book a cabin as well, you should get the one next to mine as I've just got my ticket.' He flashed a small stubb and I noted the number. 'Back in a minute, Bry. I stood suddenly, sod the movies this was far more interesting. I charged across to the small hatch where an old biddy did the cabin rentals and booked one. Sure enough my number was right next door to his. I went back and sat down to complete my eating without a word... I just placed my tighet against his. 'Excellent,' he breathed and looked at me. 'Hurry up.' We finished up and walked across to the big staircase which led upto the upper levels. We were on the second floor and there were bathroom facilities on all the floors with an ancient in a box who dished out towels and offered any help if needed. I couldn't imagine him moving more than an inch unless a massive fire enveloped the place or an earthquake struck. I suppose there could always be a fire with so many smokers around in those days but earthquakes were few and far between. When I offered my coins for the soap and towel following Brian's lead he didn't even look up at me. I was following Brian in all this and I was surprised to see a few younger sailors wandering around mostly clearly Juniors or Boys, it seemed to be a meeting place. One even greeted Brian but Brian just gave him a casual nod and we looked for our cabins. These were quite small and the place was like a maze but we found them in the end just around the corner from the bathroom. It was the first time I'd been up to the accomodation and I was pleasantly surprised. A nice big single bed and a bedside cupboard with a small reading lamp just above the bed as you have in hospitals. We checked both of them out and Brian closed the door on us as we stood in mine. 'We change in our own cabins and we can go to the bathroom in just our towels... but make sure your door is locked and keep your key. When we come back we go to our own cabins. Then I'll pop in and see you.' 'We should have shared and saved the cost,' I grumbled. 'Safer this way,' he whispered and turning to check the door was firmly shut looked at me directly. 'You want to be safe don't you?' 'Yeah,' I croaked. 'Good, see you in the showers then,' he grinned and very boldly quickly grasped my crotch through my blue serge trousers. 'Excellent,' he beamed and left. I stood in shock for a few minutes, I couldn't believe what he'd just done, he'd groped me. Not the usual feel of the arse which was commonplace onboard from some of the older guys but a full frontal grab of the genitalia... shocking. I think I must have had a silly grin on my face as I quickly stripped off my uniform and wrapped a towel around my waist, grabbing the soap I was ready to go. As soon as I heard his door close and latch I was right behind him clutching my soap and key. The bathroom was big, toilets and a long urinal down one side, a stand of handbasins down the centre and showers the full length of the remaining wall. Being used to showers on board ship where they were nearly always open comparments and in smaller ships just one space I was surprised to see that these were self contained units. Each had a small space to drop clothing and a saloon bar door and only one was occupied according to the towel draped over the door but I could hear two voices coming from it... now that was weird and not what you'd expect. Two boys, youths or men sharing an enclosed shower was basically a crime in the Navy but here it was happening and they didn;'t seem to be making much of a secret about it. 'Here,' Bryan called right from the end cubicle and I walked up where he promptly grabbed my wrist and dragged me in. He closed the cut off door and hung his towel over the top. I looked at him as he stood there clearly quite nervous but determined, his beautiful circumcised cock was at half mast and this time I made the move. I reached out and grasped it's warm thicknes and gently squeezed as Bryan tugged at my towel throwing it on the small seat. That was it, we swayed together and as I fondled his thickening meat he wrapped his arms around me and clasped my buttocks with his hands. 'Nice...' he hissed and I felt his lips on my neck. We edged into the inner compartment still stuck together and adjusted the water to flow over us in a nice warm spray and attacked each other with our small bars of soap. God, I was so hard and as I've said I'd done some messing around on our short trip to the Med and back but they had all been in nooks and crannies of which there are hundreds on a carrier but all dangerous. A large ship like an aircraft carrier is like a busy city, it never sleeps and there are people on the move twenty four/seven as they say nowadays. You can find places to have sex but they are few and far between, this was the totally the opposite, the only safer under the circumstances would be to get a hotel room... I suppose this was the cheap version. Bryan had clearly been at it before and from the sounds from the shower down the way others were in the know. I suspected it might even be a place to come on your own on the offchance and see what turned up. 'Jeez,' Brian was amorous, his stiffmess was between my legs and I clamped on it as he moved to and from making a meal of grasping and fondling my bottom. I knew exactly what he was after but needed to let him know that I, too, had needs. 'Slow down, Bry.' 'Why?' He paused and gazed at me. 'You want me, you've been giving me the evil eye for weeks.' 'True,' I grinned. This time I dropped my hands and fondled his slippery and springy buttocks. Oh, yeah... I wanted him alright and we had right through to the evening. The idea of going to the movies had completely gone by now, I'd be happy running the full course with him and just hoped he felt the same about me. He must have as moments later he dropped to his knees and after allowing the water to rinse the soap of my hardness he tenderly licked the shaft and glans and then slowly and sensually took my swolled knob into his mouth. He then started to give me what I could only call a first class blow job, he held my nutsac tightly so I couldn't go too far and pop but his head moved to and fro as he took in most of my length then just as suddenly he stood and grinned at me. 'Alright?' 'Perfect, what did you stop for?' This time I didn;'t mess around and kissed him fully on the lips and his mouth opened allowing my tongue to meet his. The kiss seemed to go on forever and he seemed as taken with tongue on tongue as I. By now my erection had found it's way between his wet legs and he'd clamped on me so that we were 'virtual fucking' to get all modern about it. Just as an aside, when you write of something that happened over fifty years ago current or modern slang creeps in but you'll have to bear with that. It was a 'virtual' fuck and all that was missing was the sensation of penetrating and taking someone all the way but I was getting around to that. 'It's better on a bed,' he whispered. 'Bang for bang?' Woops, time for another bit of naval trivia. That expression, at the time, meant 'I fuck you, you fuck me'... as simple as that. 'Sounds good,' I humped up between his legs as he spread my cheeks letting the warm water cascade over my pucker, his fat cock was trapped between our bellies and I think we were both ready to go. We parted and rinsed off and then towelled dry trying not to make too much noise although the racket from the other cubicle had subsided by now and the place sounded unoccupied. 'You go first and I'll see you in your cabin,' he smiled and his eyes dropped avoiding mine. 'You do me first, I've got a need.' Once again, I didn't believe it but he'd said it and I wasn't arguing. I left him in the shower and quickly left the deserted bathroom although I noticed towels draped over another shower door. This pair were silent and one could only guess what they were upto but two towels was a bit of a giveaway... come on! Back in my cabin I dried of properly and a short while later Brian burst into the room and closed the door dropping the catch and locking us in. He gave me a long look and wrapping his arms around me promptly slipped his tongue into my mouth and bore me down onto the bed. Thank Christ it wasn't one of those creaky ones was my last thought as we wrestled around and he let himself become a bottom by getting underneath me and slowly letting me take over. I kissed down his smooth chest and took his jerking and twitching cock into my mouth but he whispered at me not to make him cum. I knew why, he was reserving it for later and that was fine my me. I sucked his dick a little more and then lapped his scrotum getting under him as he raised his legs and attacked his dark pink pucker until he was almost double up with his legs down either side of his head, It was time and I shuffled up so that I could swipe my glans which by now was oozing the faintest of precums. I pressed once, twice and then pushed harder feeling him open up to accept my passion. He was obviously no virgin but then again neither was I. As I worked my way into his tightness and heat he groaned but I covered that with my lips as his legs came down and rested on my shoulders. A few more stokes and I began to move slowly but smoothly in his beautiful bum until my pubics mashed against him and his legs were around my waist. I looked down at him and he mouthed two simple words up at me. 'Fuck me..' That's exactly what I did, none of this scurrying around the ship looking for out of the way cubbies, no more furtive scuttling (although it's a good image)... this was the twenty four carat sex on a bed in reasonable privacy and as I lunged and plunged into Brian's hot gut he idly played with his noodle keeping it on the boil for me. At the end it got a bit sweaty and frantic but I couldn't help but groan out loud as I finally climaxed into his hot arse. A voice not too far away said something like 'nice one' and followed it by a giggle but by then I'd accepted we were not alone but with friends. If they weren't friends they were like minded young sailors that was good enough for me and I'd be looking around when we eventually went down for a cuppa or a cold drink. This was a good scene and to be used for as long as it lasted but I was pigging out on love and sloppy snogs. As I slipped free from Brian he gave a little 'ouch' and then it was kissy, kiss and stroking and fondling all the way. It was his turn but I was enjoying the foreplay too much. His solid boy cock was up on his belly as hard as a steel bar and weeping copiously puddling on his belly and when I scopped a fingerload and sucked it off he pulled a face and then tried it himself. We were both on a learning curve with each other but the only curve I wanted was that gently throbbing meat on his belly... it was time. I ducked my head to suck off his excess and lubricate him with saliva and then he was on me. I took up the position he had and lifted my legs. His damn cock looked bigger and bigger as it neared me and then I felt his slippery and bulbous mass press against me and with some brief pain he popped me with one determined thrust. We were joined and I held his beautifully smooth body as he slowly took me sinking more and more of his hot cock into my body at each thrust. He definitely had experience but I don't want to harp on about that, I enjoyed him in me which is one way of saying I was versatile, I liked to shag and get shagged, just one of those things. I liked a fine balance, I didn't really like queens who just liked bottoming and I wasn't too fond of the predators who just fucked and ran... I liked a bit of equilibrium, 'Yeah, go on, Bry,' I urged him as he rammed into me and built upto his climax. He wasn't long cuming as, like me, he was a horny boy and when he cum it was a good one and I crammed my hand into my mouth as I felt his hot pumping as his thick white essence enter my body. He slowly lay on my belly as my legs dropped and his hardness remained inside me slowly wilting. We were done for the moment. 'Fantastic,' he whispered into my ear and I felt his flickering tongue. 'Gotta do this again,' I replied also in a whisper. 'After a snooze? 'Yeah,' I stiffled a giggle. What I mean was on other weekend afternoons. In fact we did it every Saturday and most Sunday afternoons for a month and with 'guests' until I got my draft chit which was my movement order for HMS Drake. Down to sunny Plymouth to join a class of newbie young Junior Signalmen to restart my career. That was the beginning of another story but I always remember Boy Seaman Brian Stanley on HMS Centaur back in '54. There's only one extra letter in his surname so if he reads this he'd recognise himself straight away. It's extremely doubtful if he would remember me but I've remember him all these years and can even picture him now as if he was sitting alongside me... not bad for over fifty years ago. THE END Note to old Navy Readers: Yeah, I know back in the early fifties the big Fleet Clubs hadn't been built. But both in both Portsmouth and Plymouth you had the Aggy Westons Homes for Sailors which were very strictly termperance but provided overnight cabins and the chance to wash and brush up. I can tell you, from experience, that two to a cabin was not unheard of and pretty safe as long as you kept the noise down. I think these places were manned mainly by volunteers who's avowed aim was to keep sailors off the booze and 'off the streets'... all honour to them, they served a need and provided a bit of succor when some of us needed it. The bigger and better Fleet Clubs and dare I say much posher and more expensive featured in this story are a matter of dragging history forwards to suit the story. I might do a second part to this, it depends on audience reaction. GCutter66@gmail.com